Marked Fragile

Marked fragile

Family garage, boxes everywhere
FRAGILE written twice in red
You say I made the hardest choice
Like I did it without fear in my chest
Everybody wants an explanation
Clean enough to fit one side
I keep holding the taped-up carton
Like the answer might be packed inside

Marked fragile, set me down slow
Marked fragile, I don't always know
I wasn't unbreakable before you heard the crack
Marked fragile, touch the truth beneath the act

Dad opens one old kitchen box
Finds the plate from when I was nine
Hairline split beneath the glaze
Broken years before this night
He smiles and says we kept it anyway
Because broken was different from done
Suddenly I stop defending
Every choice like a courtroom one

Please don't confuse survival
With never being scared

Marked fragile, set me down slow
Marked fragile, I don't always know
I wasn't unbreakable before you heard the crack
Marked fragile, touch the truth beneath the act

The plate was cracked before this chapter
Still it carried dinner fine
I wasn't unbreakable before you heard the crack
That box labeled FRAGILE gave it away

Marked fragile, tape coming loose
Marked fragile, no proof left to chase
I wasn't unbreakable before you heard the crack
Marked fragile, and I'm not ashamed of that

Marked fragile